Warhammer 40k Darktide developer Fatshark has announced yet another beta. This one lets fans who pre-ordered the game play it right now, two weeks before the official launch date of November 30.
According to a Fatshark developer update, the Darktide pre-order beta will gradually grant players access to more and more of the content that’ll be available upon launch. Right now you can play four missions – but that’ll double to eight missions on November 21, and then jump up again to 10 missions on November 28. The full release, which comes just two days later, will have 13 missions.
Fatshark says it hopes to smooth out the launch experience by gradually ramping up its service. It says it used prior betas to make all sorts of quality of life and optimisation tweaks, such as letting players skip the tutorial, improving lighting to make fighting a less dingy and disorientating experience, and fine-tuning the dodge mechanic.
While the pre-order beta has begun, there’s no reason you can’t jump in late. If you pre-order Warhammer 40k from the Steam or Microsoft store, you’ll gain access to the beta for however many days there are left. The game’s currently priced at $39.99 / £32.99.
Fatshark says its plan is for player progression to carry over from the beta to the full game, but can’t absolutely guarantee you won’t lose progress. “We are still using this period to test our progression systems, and we want to reserve the opportunity to change or reset things in the event something unforeseen or critical happens,” the devblog explains.
Check out our Warhammer 40k Darktide release date guide for everything there is to know about the imminent launch – or get some lore background from our guide to all the Warhammer 40k factions.